Profil’s Misleading Rachmaninoff Anthology

courtesy of Naxos of America

I am not sure what has been more frustrating about the latest anthology released by Profil. I suppose the title of the Sergei Rachmaninoff anthology should be at the top of the list: Complete Operas, Cantatas & Fragments. That title applies to seven CDs in the collection, but the total number of CDs is fifteen.

Then there was the matter of availability of the collection. The above hyperlink points to the Amazon.com Web page; and the search results, through which this page can be found, list the release date as March 4. However, for the better part of that month, any attempt to find the album failed; and Presto Music claimed that the album would not be released until April 8. Finally, I sincerely hope that the physical release provided by Amazon (which I currently do not have) has a better first CD than the download version, whose first CD has absolutely nothing to do with Rachmaninoff’s Aleko opera in one act. Fortunately, the second CD has a second recording of Aleko.

What about the remaining eight CDs? The good news is that they all contain works by Rachmaninoff, some of which were given performances worthy of attention. Five of those CDs are devoted to songs. Sadly, they do not provide a complete account of that category in the Rachmaninoff catalog; but they include a few tracks of Rachmaninoff on four tracks, three as piano accompanist and one as conductor.

Then there is a CD entitled The Ballet Projects. It contains two compositions, the Opus 43 “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” which is best known through its concert performances. However, Michel Fokine used it to choreograph the ballet “Paganini,” whose success pleased Rachmaninoff. He then composed his Opus 45 “Symphonic Dances” for Fokine, but the choreographer died before beginning that project. The remaining two CDs provide accounts of the four piano concertos with soloists Sviatoslav Richter (the first two), Emil Gilels (the third), and Yakov Zak (the fourth).

For all that frustration, the collection still offers content that is difficult to encounter elsewhere. How much satisfaction that content provides is in the ear of the listener. Personally, I have no problem with taking what I got. Even if it was not a vocal selection, I was pleased that the recording for Opus 45 involved Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. After Fokine died, Rachmaninoff decided to dedicate the music to Ormandy. The recording was made in 1960, long after Rachmaninoff’s death; but the “personal connection” of Ormandy’s interpretation can still be appreciated.